New Testament History and Literature with Dale B. Martin — Season 1, Episode 22: Interpreting Scripture: Medieval Interpretations

Episode synopsis

The principles of interpreting the New Testament in this course assume a historical critical perspective. The historical critical method of interpreting a text privileges the intended meaning of the ancient author, the interpretation of a text's original audience, the original language the text was written in, and the avoidance of anachronism. However, for most of the last two thousand years, this has not been the method of interpretation of the Bible. Pre-modern interpreters, such as Origen and Augustine, felt free to allegorize and use the text as they saw fit. It was only through the Reformation and other events in modern history that the historical critical method became the predominant method of interpretation.

About New Testament History and Literature with Dale B. Martin

Yale Courses - This course approaches the New Testament not as scripture, or a piece of authoritative holy writing, but as a collection of historical documents. Therefore, students are urged to leave behind their pre-conceived notions of the New Testament and read it as if they had never heard of it before. This involves understanding the historical context of the New Testament and imagining how it might appear to an ancient person.

More episodes from Season 1

• E1Introduction: Why Study the New Testament?
• E2From Stories to Canon
• E3The Greco-Roman World
• E4Judaism in the First Century
• E5The New Testament as History
• E6The Gospel of Mark
• E7The Gospel of Matthew
• E8The Gospel of Thomas
• E9The Gospel of Luke
• E10The Acts of the Apostles
• E11Johannine Christianity: The Gospel 92,407 views
• E12Johannine Christianity: The Letters